Crema (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the
province of Cremona
The province of Cremona (; Cremunés dialect, Cremunés: ; ; Emilian dialects, Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona.
The province occupies the central section of Pa ...
, in the region of
Lombardy
The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
in northern
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It is built along the river
Serio at from
Cremona
Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...
. It is also the seat of the
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Bishop of Crema, who gave the title of city to Crema.
Crema's main economic activities traditionally (since the 11th century) related to agriculture, cattle breeding and making wool, but its manufactures in later centuries include cheese, iron products and cotton and wool textiles.
History
Crema's origins have been linked to the
Lombard invasion of the 6th century CE, the name allegedly deriving from the Lombard term ''Krem'' meaning "little hill", though this is doubtful since it does not lie significantly above the surrounding countryside. Other linguistic roots may suggest an older origin, in particular the Indo-European root meaning a boundary (cf. Ukraine, crêt). Other authorities trace its foundation back to the 4th century CE, when
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
was capital of the
Western Roman Empire
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
. According to another version, it was instead an even more ancient
Celt
The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
ic or
Etruscan settlement.

Crema first appears in historical documents in the 11th century as a possession of the counts of Camisano. It was then ruled by
Boniface
Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...
, margrave of
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, and his daughter
Matilde
Matilde is an alternate spelling of the name Matilda (name), Matilda and may refer to:
People
*Matilde Borromeo (born 1983), Italian equestrian
*Matilde Camus (1919–2012), Spanish poet
*Matilde Casazola (born 1942), Bolivian songwriter
*Matilde ...
. In 1098, Matilde gave the town as a gift to the
Bishop of Cremona. During this period the prosperity of Crema's territory began as agriculture was boosted and the Humiliates' Order introduced the processing of wool, which was to be the area's main economic activity until the 19th century.
In 1159, after it had signed an alliance with
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
against the
Ghibelline Cremona, Crema was
besieged, stormed and destroyed by the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
. The siege of Crema was marked by several episodes of brutality. The Germans hung some Cremaschi prisoners to their siege machines hoping the defenders would not fire against their fellows. However, this expedient did not work, and turned the battle into a slaughter.
After the
Peace of Constance (1183) the city was allowed to be rebuilt as a ''castrum'' ("castle").
Henry VI gave it back to his allied Cremonese. A period as a free Commune followed, during which, however, the tendency to partisan struggles, typical of the northern Italian communes of that age, soon showed. In any case, the city was reinforced with new walls, ditches and gates (1199), and a network of canals further improved agriculture. In the 13th century Crema was also enriched with its famous
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
and the
Palazzo Pretorio.
The communal independence ended in 1335, when the city surrendered to
Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò V ...
, whose family held the city until the end of the century. In 1361 Crema was touched by the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. A brief period of rule by the Guelph
Benzoni family followed (Bartolomeo and Paolo from 1403 to 1405, then their nephew Giorgio until 1423). The seignory passed again to the Visconti, and, from 1449 onwards, to the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
.
As a Venetian
inland province, Crema obtained numerous privileges and was safe from the economic decline of the nearby
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...
under Spanish rule. It maintained a substantial level of autonomy, which allowed for a program of new buildings. These included a new line of walls, the rebuilding of the
Palazzo Comunale (1525–1533), the Palazzo della Notaria, now
Palazzo Vescovile.
The 17th century saw the beginning of the decadence of the city, caused by the decline of its industrial activities, although agriculture continued to flourish. In 1796 an Academy of Agriculture was founded. After the
fall of the Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice was dissolved and dismembered by the French general Napoleon Bonaparte and the Habsburg monarchy on 12 May 1797, ending approximately 1,100 years of its existence. It was the final action of Napoleon's Italian campaign ...
in 1797, Crema became part of the new French
client Cisalpine republic
The Cisalpine Republic (; ) was a sister republic or a client state of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.
Creation
After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organized two ...
(and later the Napoleonic
Italian Republic
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
). The French army deposed the last and created a municipality. At first Crema formed part of the province of Crema-Lodi, but was later annexed to the
department of centred on
Cremona
Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...
. After the Napoleonic wars the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
awarded Crema to
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
as part of the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. Within Lombardy–Venetia it became part of the within the sub-Kingdom of Lombardy.
By the 1859
Treaty of Zurich which ended the
Austro-Sardinian War, Austria ceded Lombardy, including Crema, to France, who then immediately ceded it to
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
. This formed part of the ''
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...
'', which saw Sardinia become the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
in 1861. In 1946, the Kingdom became the modern Italian Republic.
Main sights
Crema's most famous historical sights are:
*
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
, in
Lombard-Gothic style, with a tall bell-tower completed in 1604;
*
Civic museum;
* Church of
Santa Maria della Croce (St. Mary of the Cross), built in 1493–1500 by
Giovanni Battagio;
*
Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall);
*
Palazzo Pretorio, with the annexed medieval tower;
*
Palazzo Vescovile;
*
Palazzo Benvenuti Arrigoni Albergoni;
*
Santissima Trinità church.
*
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie
*
Episcopal Seminary of Crema
Many other sights, such as minor churches and private palaces, are dislocated through the city center.
File:Chiesa SS Trinità - Crema (Foto Luca Giarelli).jpg, Santissima Trinità church
File:Crema scene2.jpg, Palazzo Terni Gregori
File:Palazzo-vescovile-facciata.jpg, Palazzo Vescovile, official residence of the bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
File:Arco del Torrazzo.jpg, Torrazzo
File:Porta Ombriano.jpg, Porta Ombriano, western city gate
File:Porta Serio - Crema.jpg, Porta Serio, eastern city gate
Culture
Civic Museum of Crema
The
Civic Museum of Crema, established in the 1960, is located in the Renaissance convent of Sant 'Agostino.
Cuisine
The
tortelli cremaschi (dialect of Crema: ''turtèi cremasch'') represents the main dish of the local culinary tradition. This is a kind of tortelli that doesn't exist elsewhere in Italy as the filling is sweet, consisting of
parmesan cheese
Parmesan (, ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others.
The term ''Parmesan'' may refer to either Parmigiano ...
,
Amaretti di Saronno (an Italian almond biscuit),
raisins, candied citron,
spices
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
and the
mostaccino (a typical spiced biscuit).
Also worth mentioning is the
salva, a DOP cheese typical of the Crema area, traditionally consumed with tighe (green Lombard pepper), packaged in
vinegar
Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...
.
Poor dish typically consumed in winter, accompanied by
cotechino (gelatinous pork sausage in a natural casing) or boiled meat, is
pipèto (flan of
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...
, butter, garlic, parmesan,
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...
).
The main sweets of the city are
the treccia d'oro, the
Bertolina cake (''Bertulina''), a popular autumn cake made with red grapes, to which a square festival is also dedicated, and the noblest
Spongarda, consumed throughout the year.
Moreover, in time of
Carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
, ''
chisulì'' are prepared, balls filled with a mixture prepared with
lemon
The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...
peel, brewer's
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
, raisins,
apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
and
lard.
Sport
AC Crema 1908 is the local
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club and play at the
Giuseppe Voltini Stadium. The club took part to two
Serie B
The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...
seasons immediately after the
second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, led by world champion
Renato Olmi.
People
*
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading op ...
(1602-1676), composer
*
Giovanni Giacomo Barbelli (1604–1656), painter
*
Lodovico Benvenuti (1899–1966), politician
*
Giovanni Bottesini (1821–1889), composer
*
Luca Guadagnino
Luca Guadagnino (; born 10 August 1971) is an Italian film director and producer. His films are characterized by their emotional complexity, eroticism, and lavish visuals. Guadagnino has received numerous accolades, including a Silver Lion, alon ...
(b. 1971), film director, lives in Crema
(his movie, ''
Call Me by Your Name'', was filmed here in 2016)
*
Giovanni Battista Lucini (1639–1686), painter
*
Carlo Martini (1908–1958), painter
*
Giuseppe Doldi (b. 1950), footballer
*
Beppe Severgnini (b. 1956), writer and journalist
*
Giovanni Vailati (1815–1890), classical mandolinist
*
Cesare Alpini (b. 1956), art historian
*
Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi (b. 1965), archbishop
*
Andrea Marcolongo (b. 17 January 1987), writer
Transport
Crema is served by a railway station on the
Treviglio–Cremona railway, with regional trains.
There were three national roads connecting the city: SS 415 to Milan and Cremona; SS 591 to Piacenza and Bergamo; and
SS 235 to Brescia and Pavia. The nearest motorway exits are the one of Lodi-Pieve Fissiraga, on the
Autostrada A1 and the one of Romano di Lombardia on the Autostrada A35 - BreBeMi, opened in July 2014.
In popular culture
The film ''
Call Me by Your Name'' (2017) was shot primarily in Crema. Several historical locations in the surrounding streets in Crema and
Pandino were chosen during production, including the
Crema Cathedral.
Administration

Since local government political reorganization in 1993, Crema has been governed by the City Council of Crema. Voters elect directly the councilors and the mayor of Crema every five years.
The current mayor of Crema is Fabio Bergamaschi (
PD), elected on 26 June 2022 with 58% of votes.
This is a list of the mayors of Crema since 1993:
Sister cities
*
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
, France, since 2001
*
Nanning
Nanning; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...
, China, since 2015
See also
*
Venetian walls of Crema
*
Palace of the Mount of Piety
References
Bibliography
* Rino Cammilleri, Tutti i giorni con Maria, calendario delle apparizioni, Milano, Ares, 2020, ISBN 978-88-815-59-367.
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Lombardy